Old Friends
by justawkwardlystandingthere
Summary: The war is over, and everyone is safe in Raven's Gyhll-or so they thought. But what happens when Seph and Jack are kidnapped by some "old friends" and held ransom in exchange for the Dragon? Will Madison surrender? Will war break out yet again? Seph/Madison Jack/Ellen Rated T for violence and because I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

Jack's POV

Jack couldn't help but cringe as they entered Raven's Ghyll. No, Dragon's Ghyll, he corrected himself; but despite the new name, the old memories still resurfaced. The last time he'd been here he and Ellen had almost died after they refused to kill each other in the Midsummer's Day tournament. He glanced over at her, and reached out for her hand. She smiled back at him, and suddenly he felt much better.

She was still recovering from the injuries she obtained at the Siege of Trinity, it was a slow process, made even slower by her eagerness to convalesce. Jack grinned. It had taken the combined efforts of Seph, his mom, Becka and himself to keep Ellen in bed. When she had heard of the trip to the Ghyll, nothing he could say or do had dissuaded her from coming. Although annoyed at Ellen's apparent lack of concern for her own health, he was secretly pleased she had come.  
"We're here," said Seph suddenly, as they pulled to a stop at the top of a hill.

Finally, thought Jack. Driving nine hours in a van with Will, Fitch and Leesha had not been pleasant. As if they had heard his thoughts, they abruptly stopped arguing and filed out of the van, eager to stretch their legs, despite the cold weather. Jack, Becka, Ellen, Seph and Madison were left alone in a peaceful silence.  
"They're probably going to find something else to argue about," said Ellen dryly. Everyone laughed, Jack realized that it had been forever since he laughed, the sound felt large and awkward in his mouth. Seph gently shook awake Madison, who, despite the nonstop commotion from the back of the van, had managed to doze peacefully throughout the majority of the trip.

"Maddie," Seph teased as they caught up with the others, "how on earth can you sleep nine hours straight?"  
"Hmmm? Me? Oh, I'm not sure." She answered, clearly distracted by their utterly breathtaking surroundings; the snow dusted hills and valleys that dotted the landscape made the Ghyll an artist's dream.

"Well however you did it I wish I could have," said Jack, staring pointedly at Will and Fitch, both of whom turned to glare at Leesha. Everybody laughed, including Seph, who had regained his sense of humor after the siege ended.

Jack was amazed at how different his cousin was now that he quit using wizard flame. Seph's face which had been so haggard and gaunt looked healthy again, and he had regained the weight that no one had noticed he'd lost. Seph claimed that he was completely over the addiction, but some days Jack could see the longing in his eyes. He knew that Seph still craved the flame, but whenever he asked him about it, his cousin would quickly dismiss the idea, insisting he was fine.  
"Lee, they're here!" The faint cry came from down the hill. Jack immediately recognized the singsong voice. "Seph! Jack!"  
"Over here!" Jack replied. After a moment or so the small figure of Linda Downey appeared at the crest of the hill, followed closely by Leander Hastings. At the sight of her son, Linda broke into a run, flying across the snow, straight into Seph, nearly knocking him off his feet, despite her small size. Jack smiled to himself, it was good to see his aunt so happy for once. Will and Fitch however were cracking up. When she finally released her son, she ran straight over to Jack, slamming into him like a battering ram, knocking the breath out if him.

"It's good to see you too Aunt Linda," gasped Jack. He glanced over Linda's shoulder at Will and Fitch, who were both roaring with laughter. "You're next," he mouthed, glaring at them. Sure enough, after Aunt Linda released him she ran straight over to Fitch, knocking him clean off the ground. Jeez that woman is strong, thought Jack, as everyone exploded with laughter.

"Where's Jason?" Asked Aunt Linda, genuinely bewildered. She had been so happy to be reunited with everyone that she hadn't noticed anyone was missing. She looked around, but stopped when she saw everybody's faces. Oh man, thought Jack, they don't know yet, no one's told them. Jason had been like a second son to her. "No," she said, "no, no, it's wrong, you're wrong!" She looked around again, crying in earnest now, her tears leaving glistening trails upon her face. Hastings didn't cry, Jack had never seen him cry, but he inclined his head for a moment, then walked over to Linda, taking her shoulders, and leading her back towards the castle, everyone else trailing slowly behind them.

* * *

When they arrived at the castle they found a large home-cooked meal waiting for them, courtesy of Linda Downey. Dinner was an awkward affair, Aunt Linda sat quietly, observing all of them with a mixture of pride, love, and grief on her face. Hastings however was already questioning Madison about her gifts from the Dragon  
"Are you still having trouble controlling your powers?" He asked, obviously intrigued. Madison nodded. "Seph and I will train with you tomorrow then," he continued, as if it were already decided. Jack spoke up.

"Well, if you're planning on training tomorrow, there's been some talk of a little duel between you and your son," Jack lied, thinking Aunt Linda could use a distraction.  
"Great, I'll be there!" Fitch didn't give them a chance to refuse. "Showdown in the Ghyll!" Jack saw Hastings glanced over at Seph.  
"Looks like you're going down," he said simply. Seph raised an eyebrow, his glittering eyes changing from green to gold.  
"We'll see."

After dinner, everyone was eager to explore, especially anaweir Will and Fitch. The extravagant halls were lined with hidden doors, secret passages and ancient booby traps. Hastings had given them directions to the two neighboring towers that they would be staying in, one for the boys, and one for the girls. Seph and Leesha walked ahead of the others, using wizardry to disable the few traps Hastings had missed, like the two small, thankfully not poisoned, darts that had nailed Will in the ankle. By the time they made it to their rooms, Ellen was already out of breath. Jack half carried her up the tower steps to the room that Ellen and Madison shared.  
"You know, I can take care of myself Jack," said Ellen sternly, as Jack helped her down onto the couch.

"I know you can," he replied softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

" Well now that we've cleared that up, I'm going to bed," she said cheerfully. Madison and Leesha peeked their heads in, each with slightly wicked smiles on their faces.

"Hey lovebirds, I hate to interrupt, but this is the girls tower and we need our beauty sleep," Madison said, trying hard to keep a straight face.

"You'll have to see Ellen in the morning, okay Jack?" Leesha added, her expression matching Madison's. Becka winked at him.

"I'll see you later then," Jack said, grinning to himself as he jogged back down the steps, and up the opposite staircase that led to the boy's tower. He and Seph shared a large room at the very top. It was elaborately furnished, with two queen beds, a sitting area, and a private balcony.  
Seph had already claimed one of the beds, and lay sprawled out on top of it.

"The girls kick you out also?" he asked, looking like he already knew the answer.

"Pretty much," Jack admitted, sitting down on his own bed. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Seph grinned, "want to bet he'll beat me in the first minute?"

"Nah, it'll take him at least three," Jack replied

"Thanks for the boost of confidence," Seph said, laughing.

" We'll see who's right tomorrow then," Jack said, excited. Despite his original reason for the fight, he couldn't help but wonder about the outcome.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: An Unlikely Alliance

Simon Paige peered out of the frosted window of the dingy café yet again. He scowled, he hated many things, but none so much as he hated the White Rose. He should have suspected they would be late. He looked over at Bruce Hays, who was seated next to him in the ripped up  
plastic booth. The two were an odd pair but they were bound together; they were some of the few surviving members of the Red Rose. The rest had scattered after the Siege of Trinity. As Paige absentmindedly rolled his coffee mug between his hands, he thought grimly over the events that had haunted him for months now.

Wylie and Longbranch had been fools to go after the Dragonheart, and they payed dearly for it. Bruce and Paige had watched from afar as the girl, Madison, had absorbed the Dragonheart and morphed into the glittering dragon. They had watched as Geoffrey and Jessamine had their weirstones ripped from their bodies, and became anaweir, they had seen the grief on their faces. Paige now had one agenda, and one agenda only, to control the dragon, to wield her powers for himself, and to rule over the guilds. Bruce's goal was slightly different, but similar enough, Hays wanted revenge. Revenge on McCauley and the others for making a fool of him during the Siege. He'd almost been killed during one of McCauley's assaults. He wore the scars proudly now, the only evidence of the flames that had engulfed his entire body.

"Hello Simon." The two words were enough to snap him out of his thoughts, and back to reality.

"Good afternoon, Thelma " Paige replied, "we were beginning to wonder if you were going to show up at all."

"Of course we were, seeing as we are the ones who engineered this meeting." Thelma Longbranch was the spitting image of her older sister Jessamine; she had the same mass of black hair, and the same cold expression, the only difference were Thelma's piercing blue eyes.

"Allow me to introduce my partner," she motioned to a tall blond boy behind her, "this is Warren Barber."

Paige realized with a start that he'd forgotten to introduce Hays. "This is my partner-"

"Hays," Barber interrupted, stepping forward and grinning, "Bruce Hays."

"Warren, what are you doing here?" Hays gestured to their disgusting surroundings, "get lost, or what?"

"You two know each other?" asked Paige, not trying to hide his surprise. He glanced over at Thelma who looked just as confused as he felt. The boys ignored them.

"Jeez, man, what happened?" Barber asked, taking in Bruce's marred face. "Run into a fireplace or something?"

Hays grimaced, suddenly serious "McCauley," he growled, as if that explained it all.

"Then we may be able to help you," said Thelma, her thin lips stretching across her face in a predatory smile, "the reason we're having this meeting is because I found them; Swift, McCauley, Hastings; they're all holed up together in Raven's Ghyll, and I think we need to pay them a visit."

"Yes," breathed Paige, happy for the first time that day, "is the Dragon there with them?"

Thelma faltered, "we're umm..., we're not exactly sure yet, we thought we would send in some spies later today."

"We don't need to," said Barber suddenly, "if we kidnap one of the others, we can ask for her surrender as a ransom."

"So which one of them should we take?" asked Paige, purposefully not commenting on the ingenuity of Barber's plan, "we need someone that's close to the dragon, someone she'll trade herself for. I think we can rule out McCauley and Hastings, they're too juiced to take easily."

"And the enchanter," added Thelma, "she's dangerous too."

"No, I want McCauley," Hays said, determinedly.

"Are you sure about that?" Said Paige, already knowing his answer, "shouldn't we take someone a little easier to handle, like Swift or Stephenson?"

"I agree with Bruce," Barber spoke up, "McCauley may be one of, if not _the_ strongest, but he's also closer to the dragon then anyone else. There are wards around the castle preventing most types of attack magic, so taking him shouldn't be too hard, since he can't fight back. Besides, Bruce and I are old friends with him." He looked over at Bruce, grinning cruelly.

_Who is this guy_, thought Paige, a little creeped out despite himself. He was glad they were on the same side. "Well it's decided then," said Thelma briskly, "I'll send in some men tomorrow, under strict orders to bring him back alive."

"Unless he puts up too much of a fight," Paige added, "if they don't think they can bring him back easily, just tell them to kill him. It'll send the same message, and we can threaten to kill another one unless they hand over the Dragon."

Thelma nodded coldly, "if we succeed, the Dragon will hand herself over more than willingly."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N **

**I know this isn't the most popular story, but reviews and ideas are still loved! Also thanks to percyisawesomerthanjason who is my lone follower. I'm glad to know that my story is at least somewhat entertaining. **

Jack's POV

"Jack." The word somehow made its way through his dreams and into his conscious. He was awake and out of bed in almost an instant. Jack looked around, expecting trouble, but seeing only Fitch. He relaxed slightly, his body still coursing with adrenaline. "Come on dude," said Fitch, sounding impatient, "we're gonna be late." Jack couldn't believe that he slept in-he never slept in-but he glanced at the clock, and sure enough, it was already 12:50.

"Darn it," he said aloud, pulling on a sweatshirt. The fight was supposed to start in ten minutes, and unless they ran the entire way, they were going to be late. "Come on Fitch," Jack called, already halfway down the stairs.

By some miracle they managed make it back on time, arriving just as Hastings finished disabling the wards around the makeshift arena. "There you are," called Becka, from her seat on a large rock, "did you sleep in or what?"

Jack grinned, "yeah, something like that," he said taking his seat between Ellen and Madison. "What'd I miss?"

"Not much," Madison replied, "there'll be four rounds, and Leesha's the ref, the first to get immobilized loses."

"Got it," said Jack, "thanks."

"Shhh, they're starting," said Ellen, totally entranced. Of course she is, thought Jack, but as he looked around he realized everyone else was too, even Aunt Linda looked excited.

Boom! Jack looked up, startled, realizing he'd missed the beginning of the fight. The two wizards were in the center of the field, both constantly moving, each surrounded by their own personal swirl of light and flame. Wizard fire danced around them, as dangerous and deadly as it was beautiful. The stunning light show went on for at least ten minutes before Hastings slowly started to back Seph up against a stone wall, obviously intending to corner him. Seph however ducked under Hastings blast of wizard fire, teasing huge stone chunks out of the wall. Hastings was forced to dive aside to avoid getting flattened, giving Seph the opportunity to nail him with an immobilization charm.

Everyone in the audience clapped and cheered, as Seph disabled the charm and helped his dad up. Though no one had said it, almost everyone had expected Hastings to win. Jack found himself clapping along, enjoying himself more than he thought he would. It finally hit him, the war was over, and they were all safe, he didn't have anything to worry about any more, he could just relax.

Leesha had apparently found a whistle somewhere, and was blowing it fiercely, it's shrill cry echoing throughout the snow covered Ghyll. "Round two!" she cried. Hastings quickly won the next two rounds, and Seph won the last, bringing the final score to a tie. The father and son really were evenly matched.

The next few days were a blur to Jack, everyone was in a good mood, and the days passed in a strange mix of training, relaxation and practical jokes. He wasn't sure why they still trained, the war was over, but it felt strange not to.

That afternoon, right after dinner, he decided to go practice with Shadowslayer. Maybe he'd summon a ghost warrior to spar with, seeing as Ellen was still unable to. He grabbed his sword from under his bed, sticking his dagger in the waistband of his jeans at the last minute. Jack hiked out about a mile from the castle, stopping at last in a small snow covered valley between two hills. He played against two ghost warriors, winning both rounds easily. He sighed, there really was no substitute for Ellen. He gave up on sparring, deciding to work more on his swordplay. Jack flowed quickly from stance to stance, shooting flames off of his blade, straight into the imaginary enemy. He flawlessly completed drill after drill, ending the last one by throwing his dagger at a tree on the top of the hill. It missed the trunk by an inch, sailing down the hill and out of sight. Jack groaned as he went to retrieve it; he really needed to improve his aim.

He saw the figures the moment he reached the crest of the hill. Jack counted nine of them in all, including three lying unconscious on the ground. With a start he realized he knew one of them. Seph stood in the center of the group, hands chained together behind his back, each arm gripped tightly by his assailants.

"Stop struggling boy," hissed the man holding his left arm. Seph obeyed, and stood still, concentrating hard. The man quickly drew back his hand, almost as if he had been scalded. "No persuasion either!" The man pulled out a knife, slashing Seph four times in the face, before Jack could even blink. That was his fatal mistake. Jack ran forward scooping up his dagger, knowing this time he wouldn't miss. The blade hit the man in the center of his chest, killing him before he could strike a fifth blow.

All attention turned to Jack, as he made his way down the icy slope. He ran as fast as he could without falling, but he was still helpless to watch as the other man holding Seph pulled out his own knife. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, Jack desperately rolled flames off his sword, but it was no use, he was still too far away. The knife hit his cousin square in the chest. Seph let out a short, agonized scream, doubling over with pain.

The man still wasn't done; the assassin grabbed Seph's arm again, shoving him into one of the half-frozen ponds that dotted the Ghyll. Jack sped up, running down the hill at a breakneck pace, In less than thirty seconds he was upon them. They never stood a chance, especially after they attacked his cousin. Jack easily beat them, knocking them unconscious with the flat of his blade. The assassins were armed only with knifes; whoever had sent them obviously hadn't been expecting much of a fight.

Jack ran over to the pond, and dived in without hesitation. How long had Seph been underwater now, thirty seconds, a minute? The water was ice cold, every time Jack moved he felt needles in his arms. After what felt like forever he reached the bottom; the pond was deeper than he'd anticipated. He felt a flutter of panic, where was Seph? He reached out to his left, startled when his hand brushed something soft, a sweatshirt.

Black spots danced in front of Jack's eyes as he grabbed Seph's arm. He pushed up off the bottom of the pond as hard as he could, but the surface still seemed miles away. By the time he reached the top his limbs were completely numb from the cold. Jack broke the surface gasping for breath, greedily inhaling the brisk winter air. He swam over to the snow-covered bank and shoved Seph out of the water, hauling himself up after him.

Jack lay in the snow, breathing hard. He was vaguely aware of Seph coughing next to him. Jack sat up and grabbed Shadowslayer, which lay in the snow bank next to him. He walked over to Seph, and cut the chains that bound his hands and feet. "Can you stand?" he asked, already knowing the answer. To his surprise, Seph nodded, and Jack reached out a hand to help him up. Seph took it gladly, groaning with pain, as Jack pulled him to his feet.

The walk back to the castle seemed to last twice as long as it actually was. The day was bitterly cold, and Jack was acutely aware of his once soaking wet shirt stiffing with frost.

They were literally yards from the castle doors when their luck ran out; Seph completely collapsed. Jack wasn't sure exactly why he passed out-blood loss maybe-but he knew that whatever the reason, it couldn't be good. They needed to get back to the castle. He picked Seph up, but carrying him through the snow while soaking wet and freezing cold was proving to be too much for Jack. By the time he made it to the castle, he too felt like he was about to pass out. Jack barely managed to open the front door, before his legs collapsed from under him, and everything went black.


End file.
